North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion

I was taught a long time ago that if people do not get what I'm saying, then it is my fault for not communicating clearly rather than theirs for failing to understand.

I don't always live up to that standard, but when I'm criticised for clarity, I use it to frame my thoughts about why the misunderstanding exists.

At that point, I've said what matters in my earlier post #3888.

 

Quick answer. Your brokers will almost certainly confirm that membership is not a requirement for volunteers to be covered by the railway’s insurance

 

It is good that you are doing this but you are not alone in doing such things and bearing travelling costs in pursuit of your hobby and I'm sure that most others do. In the last 12 months, besides obviously travelling to volunteer on two heritage railways, I've paid all the costs of attending HRA meetings in Torquay, Llandudno, Beamish, Luton and Lynmouth, including accommodation and attendance fees where necessary. I could claim money back but I do it because I want to do it, not have to do it. It's my hobby. Just saying.

 

I don't know where this post appeared - I can't find any trace of it after my post regarding an unpaid "volunteer" All I know is that the person I was referring to was for many years listed on the back of Moors Line as holding an honorary post; I believe (though I may be wrong) that he was a Trust Board member too - which he could not have been as a paid employee. If , at some point he did become a paid employee, shouldn't this have been announced to the membership? Why wasn't it - surely it should have been regarded as a material fact?

 

I chose my words carefully. My understanding is that the individual was not an employee but his services were contracted via his limited company.

 

Steve, we may not always agree but in that we share exactly the same attitude. I can guess what personal financial commitement that involves which is why, when I see members bitching over a few quids discount on SNG services, I'm tempted to wonder whether we're mugs!

 

Wow. Congratulations on delivering your latest seminar in how to lose friends and alienate people.

 

I share that feeling, having paid plenty to volunteer in my own environment.

However, without reacting as strongly as @Andy2857, I do think this misses the point. My sense about the debates on discounts is that they aren't primarily about money, but about what they say about the value ascribed to members and their contribution.

 

OK but the SNG event is primarily about making money! As I pointed out many other heritage railways often exclude member discounting entirely from special events. To its credit the NYMR has not done that.

 

Like turntable story?

 

I agree. But you are, sadly, reinforcing my point about the tone-deafness of the communications. It is not the money, but the subliminal message of not being valued that is coming across. It did with the move to Gift Aid, and it does here. A previous perk is being removed, and that will generate much more of a reaction than if it had never been granted in the first place.

As it happens, I agree with this as a pricing strategy & think it sensible - if viewed in isolation. But no man is an island, and this pricing strategy is being implemented in a specific context. That needs to be understood, and the messaging focussed on that emotional need.

Yorkshiremen have a reputation for calling a spade a ****** shovel. I suggest this is an area where that communication style is counterproductive.

 

Seems strange then how many preserved railways are actively promoting the seemingly need for volunteers !!!!

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IMHO, the pricing strategy is sensible. However, the Gift Aid approach to tickets has become a victim of unintended consequences and I can understand that those who were persuaded to Gift Aid in the belief that they could travel again when the railway was open other than on five days are feeling short changed. The sooner the Gift Aid facility on tickets is withdrawn, the better. It has not been the cash cow some people believed it would be.
Whilst on the subject of ticket pricing, £30 return from Pickering to Grosmont seems a reasonable price to me. That's for a 36 mile round trip. Based on that, the 48 mile round trip to Whitby at £40 is a far more realistic fare than the current £49.50 and I'm sure that there will be much less resistance from people to paying it.

 

I have just been reading a memo from the NYMR that says that the 12 month Gift Aided ticket will no longer be available in 2025. A good move, IMHO. Gift Aid will still be available on tickets but it will now be tied to a 10% higher ticket price and allied to a gift voucher redeemable in tea rooms and shops to make it more worthwhile. I'm disappointed that the standard all-line fare remains high at £49.50 but there is now a discounted fare of £45 for those pre-booking over four days in advance. Children now no longer go free although a family ticket (2+2) at £99 effectively means that they do in that particular case.

 

The strapline on the top of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway website reads:

Railway Conservation. Run by Volunteers. Not for Profit.

 

Well of those three, one definitely hasn't been the case for some years, the performance in another area is deteriorating, and the third one one is certainly ambiguous at best! I'll leave readers to decide which is which!

 

I do not often agree with @Lineisclear but I do understand where he is coming from on the "cost" of volunteers vs FTE on such things as training.
The 2025 HSE world (or the someone has to be to blame culture) will lead to costs way above what will have happened in the early days of Heritage Lines. The ratio be it 7 to 1 or 5 is not relevant as to the issue of extra cost.
I was rarely happier at work than when I was undertaking some strike breaking exercise as a volunteer. But if I think back to the early days nobody was ever trained for the roles they were undertaking, but that would never happen now.
I remember a very cold January afternoon back in the 70's where I was given the keys to a drinking water cart given a list of flight numbers and stands and told to go and fill them up. No HGV licence, no airside driving permit, no training other than connect this hose to this tap on the aircraft and close the panel when you are finished. During the same dispute one of my engineering colleagues had a shift wit the toilet vehicle (or honey cart as it was known). Again virtually no training ans at one aircraft it set to to blow not pump. Covered himself and the stand and led to an A & E trip for many jabs.
Or the two week check in & gate desk course we did in 2 hours where the instruction was basically as long as you have ensured they have a valid visa if needed so we do not get fined for letting them travel and have to repatriate them, anything else you do that is wrong is irrelevant, even if there bag gets mislabelled.
None of that would happen now without days of training courses followed by tests to prove you understand it all. I have more regulations these days as a volunteer mainline steward than for any of my strike breaking activities over the years.